Yes, You Can Peel a Whole Head of Garlic in Seconds. Here’s How.

Goodbye, garlicky fingers.

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As if chopping garlic weren’t annoying enough, you have to deal with those stubborn little skins—and the smell. But why stink up your fingers scraping at those pesky peels when there’s an easier way to get those skins off?

When you just need one piece, the smashing hack works like a charm. Slice off each end of the clove, and then use the side of your knife to crush your garlic. The peel will slide right off. But if you’re using more than one clove, (and let’s be honest, everything tastes better with a heavy dose of garlic), that trick can get tiresome.

YouTuber DaveHax has a simple solution: Just plop your garlic in a jar, close the lid, and shake. After about 20 seconds, all the cloves will have broken out of their peels. Now all you have to do is dump out the jar’s contents and pick up your freshly peeled garlic. Couldn’t get much easier than that, huh?

No worries if you don’t have a big enough jar on hand. You can shake the garlic head around in any old bowl, as long as you keep the top covered with a cutting board. DaveHax recommends popping the entire untouched head of garlic in a jar, but you could also smash it with your hand first to get a headstart.

Even if you won’t use the entire clove right away, this trick is a major time-saver. Pop the unused garlic in a plastic baggie and stash in the freezer. You’ll have cloves ready whenever you need them, without wasting money on those pre-peeled containers.